My Partner, Yumiie Kanata (Part 2)

After he shook off his persistently tailing sister, he rushed off to his own house.

Carrying his very thin bag on his back, he brought out his beloved cross bike from the narrow garage. On rainy days, he goes to school by bus. However, when it’s clear like today’s weather, he goes to school by bike.

“Instead of ditching school this morning, let’s take you out for a spin.”

Getting on his bike, he started to bike around in the early morning residential area.

Renji’s own house is in one of the corners of the Chiba prefecture. It wasn’t too far from the station, as well as from the shopping district. It felt as though it were located in the commuter town’s hinterlands.

Until he was in middle school, this residential area was all of Renji’s world.

However, ─

“…”

Every morning, he turned his gaze towards the same way.

All that he could see in front of him were the sides of the tall apartments.

In the distance、there was an empty place were Tokyo should’ve been──。

It was covered by purple fog.

“The Unfortunate Attack on Tokyo.”

That’s what people have been calling the disaster where about 2 years ago, without any warning, they assaulted the heart of Tokyo.

The empty place was corroded by the mysterious fog that spread out for more than 10,000 square meters, making a perfect circle in the heart of the Chiyoda district. In that area, the corrosion even extends to the air and underneath the ground. So it’s more of a sphere rather than a circle.

It was not just covered in purple fog.

When the “Unfortunate Attack” occurred, the people living in the inner part…every last one of them mysteriously disappeared.

And that was about 1,000,000 people.

The number of who disappeared was so great that to this day they cannot say for sure the official number of people who disappeared.

The city that supported all of Japan was Tokyo. Not only did leaders of governments and businesses completely vanish, but people from other countries including embassy officials from countries all over the world also disappeared. The world fell into a state of panic.

The magnitude of that chaos was so great, that immediately after the “Unfortunate Attack”, the theory that Japan would be annihilated spread quickly around the world.

“Oh my, good morning.”

“Good morning.”

At the large intersection, a house wife that he knew called out to him, and Renji responded with a smile on his face.

Across from him, the students who were the same age as Renji were similarly waiting for the traffic light. When they saw him, they all blatantly turned their faces away from him.

“…”

Those whose whereabouts were unknown due to “The Unfortunate Attack on Tokyo” were of course not just people residing in Tokyo.

Unfortunately, on that day there were unsuspecting people who were visiting Tokyo.

A girl named Osato Yui was precisely one of those people.

She was a well-known local here. She was a child peace maker that went to local festivals and volunteered. They say Yui, who was a great caretaker and beautiful girl, was the admiration of her peers.

Despite all of this—She left her house to visit a stupid childhood friend and became a victim to the “Unfortunate Attack on Tokyo.”

Moreover, the idiot who caused this tragedy was completely cured of his injuries in only a one month’s time and returned alive.

The idiot who instigated her death received hateful glares from people in the local area, which was only to be expected.

Nevertheless, there were no icy stares from within his own family. Furthermore, the fact that he was able to stay at his own home in peace was thanks Osato Yui’s parent’s home’s good will and to his big brother, Shouichi.

Shouichi was an inspiration to the children in the generation before Yui’s generation. Since he was such an idol, he was recognized as the best local hero by the Young Men’s Association and Society of Commerce and Industry.

It is a locally famous story that at that time, instead of the younger brother (who was in the hospital) apologizing, it was the older brother who got on his knees and repeatedly apologized and begged for forgiveness from Yui’s home.

On top of that, without even mentioning the word “responsibility”, Shouichi denied a large company’s job offer and joined the newly established government agency called the Rescue Agency in order to solve matters relating to the “Unfortunate Attack on Tokyo.” Because of his brother actions, Renji was able to stay in the Akizuki household in peace, where we can say that "he was forgiven.”

“…Tsch”

He heard someone make a sound with their mouth.

Renji pretended not to have noticed it. The light turned green, and he crossed the intersection.

It was not only his big brother.

Little sister Asahi also took the lead in taking part in the local regional affairs. She contributed various things to the local region. At the house, his verbally abusive little sister—did not even once blame Renji for the incident.

On that day, the boy who abandoned his older childhood friend at the “Area” was—Renji.

Although his life in middle school was filled with those white cold stares from his classmates, it was also filled with laughter because he was supported by his parents and siblings. He made it a habit to run away from those stares until he entered high school in a far off place.

And just like that—he reached the same age as his childhood friend who disappeared

“Yuu-Ne…”

He murmured to himself without even thinking about it, while looking at the purple wall in the far distance.

The ordeals and trials that Japan faced after the “Unfortunate Attack” were strenuous.

1,000,000 people went missing (and that number continues to grow), while around 10,000 people were injured due to the explosions that occurred around the borderline during the time when the “Unfortunate Attack” began.

Renji was one of those who were injured.

Regional legislators gathered from all over Japan to create a provisional government. However, that government’s chain of command and intelligence gathering that was conducted in order to understand the extend of the damage and to undertake the rescue effort of the injured, was extremely unorganized.

It was natural that they were unorganized since they have never met chaos of this magnitude.

Despite having to suffer through that disaster, everyone around the world thought that it was a miracle for the remainder of the Japanese people to be able stay and maintain their life there.

Japanese people started flowing out of Japan to live overseas, and as a result the number of vacant houses in residential areas grew.

When the “Unfortunate Attack” occurred, the Royal family were fortunately absent overseas. When they decided to move to the Kansai region, political and business establishments began to move their base of operations over there as well.

The incident brought about various changes, and the population of Japan, even now, continues to decrease but—outside of Tokyo, there is hope to take back a normal life.

Some say that they can regain their lives solely by the result of the hard work of the Japanese people, but others say there’s another way.

That other way is the Rescue Agency.

After the “Unfortunate Attack”, they established a newly organized governmental agency in order to solve cases related to the “Unfortuante Attack on Tokyo.”

They established it not only to control the chaos within Japan, but also to demonstrate how capable they were to international bodies.

What types of negotiations that occurred remain unknown to the public. However, after the “Unfortunate Attack”, at almost no delay, every country competed to be the first to work out a policy to aid Japan. One of things that remains unchanged from before the “Unfortunate Attack” is that the use of the Japanese Yen is significant for the security of every country around the world.

And that’s how things became to be this way. Currently the Rescue Agency's movements are being watched inside and outside of Japan.

Although the peak of the chaos has been surmounted thanks to the efforts of the Rescue Agency, the “Unfortunate Attack’s” after-effects still remain.

The most prime example is the fog that occupies the heart of the city.

“Critical Area.”

It is commonly called “Area”; a transformed world.

That’s what they call that whole region; There are things there that humanity can’t possibly understand.

The “Area” and the world are completely separated by the purple wall and fog.

Although they tried to break through the wall from the outside by using an intense repulsive force, it was repelled.

Even though they used sharp-edge tools and explosives, they have never successfully broken through.

In the present time, researchers say that have found only one method to invade the inner part of the area.

Using that only method, the images that the rescue agency brought back from the inner part of the “Area” ─made the whole world tremble with fear.

Tokyo looked as if it were ruins from 100 years ago.

Not only did they find shadows of what used to be people、but also found that signs of death that continued to linger in the air.

Looking at the completely changed center of Tokyo, people began abandoning hope of the missing people returning alive.

To make matters worse, rumors of deformed monsters, instead of humans, ran rampant in the inner part of the “Area” popped up from some time ago.

Under these circumstances, three types of people currently exist in Japan:

The people who, without abandoning their hope for the missing people returning alive, chant to take back Tokyo.

People who have abandoned hope and believe that the missing people are as good as dead, and believe in policies that turn towards seeking refuge outside of Japan for the sake of all of humanity that remains in Japan. Possibly this includes people who want to explore ways to eliminate the threat of the “Area.”

And──People who evaded the disaster and do not want to know about the “The Unfortunate Attack on Tokyo.” These people fear these damages mentioned, and to the bitter end hope to coexist with the “Area” by ignoring it and by not actively promoting the fact that the “Area” is hazardous.

Renji’s family is the same.

Big brother Shouichi ran off to join the Rescue Agency in order to bring back the missing people.

Little Sister Asahi, without even uttering a word, understood that what happened in the past happened.

Renji’s parents want to preserve their household, so they never mention or touch the subject of “The Unfortunate Attack on Tokyo.”

On the other hand, Renji was actually involved in “The Unfortunate Attack” ─